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- 11 months ago
- #botchedexecutions
- #executions
- #lethalinjection
Top 3 Botched lethal injection executions from across the US.
#botchedexecutions #executions #lethalinjection
#botchedexecutions #executions #lethalinjection
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00:00Hello and welcome to the Dark Mystery Lounge.
00:03Last time we talked about botched executions.
00:05We focused on the electric chair, Old Sparky, here in Florida.
00:09This time around we're going to take a look at a few botched lethal injections from across the U.S.
00:14Even though it wasn't really used here in the state of Florida until the year 2000,
00:19in other states they were already using lethal injection as their primary method of execution.
00:23Velma Barfield was the first woman to be executed using lethal injection in the state of North Carolina back in 1984.
00:31The standard protocol for lethal injection is to strap the person down onto a gurney,
00:36insert two IVs, one in each arm, the first one being the primary IV, the other one as a backup,
00:42just in case something goes wrong.
00:43A saline drip is started in both arms and a heart monitor is connected as well.
00:48The first drug introduced is sodium theopentyl, or pentobarbital,
00:52which is an ultra-short-acting barbiturate to render the person unconscious in less than 30 seconds.
00:58Then the drug pentacurium bromide, which paralyzes the lungs and diaphragm.
01:02Then the final drug, potassium chloride, to stop the heart via abnormal heartbeat and thus cause death by cardiac arrest.
01:10These drugs are not mixed and introduced in a timely manner.
01:13Although the combination of drugs can vary from state to state,
01:16the average time it takes to be executed this way is around 7 to 10 minutes.
01:21All depends on how the person's body reacts to the drug.
01:24It can also be difficult to execute someone this way if they've abused IV drugs
01:28and has a lot of blown veins or medical issues.
01:31If done right, it can be pretty effective and a cleaner method.
01:35So let's go ahead and take a look at the top three botched lethal injections.
01:39Angel Neves Diaz
01:44Angel Neves Diaz was born in Puerto Rico and got himself involved in crime and drugs from an early age.
01:50He went by the nickname Daddy of Death.
01:52He dropped out of high school during his third year.
01:54Angel got arrested for possession of heroin at age 17.
01:58Then at 24, he shot and wounded a police officer during an armed robbery.
02:02He was sentenced to 5 to 8 years in prison.
02:05In July of 1978, Angel killed the director of a drug rehabilitation center,
02:10stabbing him 19 times while he was sleeping.
02:12He was sent back to prison for second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison.
02:17But in 1979, he escaped from prison, nearly beating a guard to death in the process.
02:23He fled to Florida.
02:24On December 29, 1979, Angel and two of his friends, Angel Toro and another man who was never caught,
02:32robbed the Velvet Swing Lounge, a strip club in Miami.
02:35There were no witnesses as to who pulled the trigger, killing Joseph Nagy, the manager,
02:40because most of the employees and patrons were held in a restroom blocked by a cigarette vending machine.
02:46The police also suspected Angel Diaz and Angel Toro for another murder while in Miami.
02:51In February 1981, Angel was arrested on unrelated firearms charges and assault,
02:57but he gave a fake name, Emilio Baez, and posted bail.
03:01Before the police discovered his real identity, he jumped bail and fled to Connecticut,
03:06where he later was arrested on federal firearms charges.
03:09While awaiting trial, Angel was sent to Hartford Correctional Center.
03:13In August 1981, he and three other inmates escaped by holding one guard at knife point and beating another guard.
03:20He was convicted in federal court of illegally possessing a firearm and second-degree kidnapping in state court.
03:27Both Angel were sent back to prison, serving a life sentence without parole, for murdering a woman in Massachusetts.
03:33They were charged for the murder of Joseph Nagy after Angel Diaz's girlfriend told police that he was involved.
03:40Police found fingerprints on a matchbook left at the crime scene.
03:44In 1986, he was found guilty of first-degree murder.
03:48During his trial, he threatened witnesses, fired his lawyer, and chose to represent himself.
03:53Angel Diaz claimed that Angel Toro had committed the murder.
03:57Plus, fellow inmate Ralph Gadges, who was serving 20 years sentenced for second-degree murder,
04:02claims that Angel confessed to him about the murder, even though Angel spoke English poorly and Ralph spoke no Spanish.
04:09The jury sentenced him to death by an 8-4 vote.
04:13Angel Toro pled guilty to second-degree murder and received a life sentence.
04:17Appeals dragged out for many years, being denied over and over.
04:21In 2006, his last appeal was denied.
04:23Since the date of his execution was coming closer, his case was again brought to the public's attention.
04:29On November 28, 2006, Governor Vela of Puerto Rico asked Governor Jeb Bush for clemency in the case.
04:36He voiced concerns about the fairness of Angel's trial, the recanted testimony of Ralph Gadges and Angel Toro's life sentence.
04:44But, of course, it fell on deaf ears.
04:46As his final days approached, he visited with his family and prison chaplain and received last rites by a Roman Catholic priest shortly before his execution.
04:55Angel didn't have a special last meal, but was given a prison menu of shredded turkey with taco seasoning, shredded cheese, rice, pinto beans, tortilla shells, apple crisp, and an iced tea.
05:07But he declined the meal.
05:09On December 13, 2006, Angel was brought to the execution chamber and strapped down to the gurney.
05:14Both IV lines were started.
05:16Angel was asked if he had any last words.
05:18He said,
05:19As the three-drug cocktail was being introduced, something was wrong.
05:39Angel began to grimace, his eyes bulged, and head jutted.
05:43His body started to shudder from the pain.
05:45After 10 minutes, Angel should have been dead, but he managed to whisper, what's going on?
05:50A second dose was introduced.
05:52By the 24th minute, his body jolted and eyes opened widely, which shocked everyone that was witnessing the execution.
05:59After 36 minutes, Angel Diaz was pronounced dead.
06:02After conducting an autopsy to see what went wrong, it was found that the IV needle didn't go all the way through his vein,
06:09and the drugs went through his soft tissues, leaving chemical burns on his skin.
06:13At first, officials wanted to blame it on Angel having a liver condition, but his family said that he had no such condition.
06:20As a result, Governor Jeb Bush postponed all pending executions until further notice,
06:25until Governor Charlie Crist lifted the ban by signing a death warrant authorizing the execution of Mark Dean Schwab in 2008.
06:34In 2004, Angel Toro's other murder conviction was vacated, making him eligible for parole.
06:40He was paroled on November 18, 2008.
06:48Joseph Wood lived with his girlfriend, Deborah Dietz, in Tucson, Arizona.
06:52Their relationship definitely was not a happy one.
06:54They would fight often, but with each fight, Joseph would become more and more abusive and physically violent with Deborah.
07:00She finally tried to end the relationship after a fight during the 1989 July 4th weekend.
07:07She left the apartment and moved back in with her parents, saying,
07:09I don't want any more of this.
07:11After Deborah left, Joseph ransacked and vandalized the apartment.
07:15She obtained an order of protection against Joseph on July 8, 1989.
07:19That didn't really seem to make a difference to Joseph.
07:22He kept calling Deborah at work, at her parents' house, and even her new apartment for several weeks.
07:27Her father, Eugene, was told by Joseph that he would get him back and that he'll be sorry for taking Deborah away from him.
07:34Eugene and Joseph never liked each other, even though Eugene included Joseph in family activities.
07:39On the morning of Monday, August 7, 1989, Deborah and Eugene drove together to work at their family-owned and operated auto body shop.
07:47Joseph called the shop three times.
07:49First time, Deborah hung up on him, and Eugene hung up on him twice.
07:53He called a fourth time and asked another employee if Deborah and Eugene were at the shop.
07:58The employee said that they had temporarily left, but would return soon.
08:02They returned to the shop around 8.30.
08:04At 8.50 a.m., a Tucson police officer saw Joseph driving in a suspicious manner near the shop.
08:10The officer slowed her patrol car and made eye contact with Joseph as he left his truck and entered the shop.
08:16Eugene was on the phone when Joseph approached him from behind, waiting until Eugene hung up the phone.
08:22Once he hung up, Joseph was within four feet, drew a revolver, and shot Eugene in the chest, while four other employees screamed at him to put the gun down.
08:31Joseph just smiled and went looking for Deborah, who was on the other side of the shop.
08:35By this point, the police officer called for backup as she saw the whole event unfold.
08:40Joseph finally made his way to Deborah, who had already heard her father had been shot and was calling for help.
08:46Joseph grabbed her by the neck from behind and placed the revolver directly against her chest.
08:51Deborah struggled and screamed,
08:53No, Joe, don't!
08:54Another employee heard him say,
08:56I told you I was going to do it.
08:58I have to kill you.
08:59Joseph then called Deborah a bitch and shot her twice in the chest.
09:03By the time Joseph left the shop, several officers were already on the scene.
09:07Two officers ordered him to put his hands up.
09:09Joseph complied and dropped his weapon, but then grabbed it and began to raise it towards the officer.
09:14After again ordering Joseph to raise his hands, the officers shot him several times.
09:19Joseph was arrested and indicted on two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault against the police officers who tried to subdue him.
09:27At trial, Joseph conceded his role in the killings, but argued that they were impulsive acts and were not premeditated.
09:34After five days of trial, the jury found him guilty on all counts.
09:38Following the aggravation and mitigation hearings, the trial court sentenced Joseph to 30 years for the assault charges and death for the two murders.
09:47On July 23, 2014, Joseph was escorted to the death chamber in Florence State Prison's death house.
09:54He didn't request the last meal the night before, so he was served sausage and mashed potatoes, which was the standard prison food.
10:00He was strapped to the gurney at 1.30 p.m.
10:03Two men in scrubs were able to find suitable veins for both IV lines.
10:07Then the curtains opened.
10:08At 1.54 p.m., Joseph was asked if he had any last words.
10:12He smiled while looking at the victim's family and said,
10:15I take comfort knowing today my pain stops, and I said a prayer that on this day or any other day you may find peace in all of your hearts, and may God forgive you all.
10:26He didn't apologize at all for what he did.
10:29At 9.57 p.m., the chemicals started to flow and was unconscious within a minute.
10:34In the state of Arizona, this was the first time they were going to try a new cocktail of drugs for lethal injection.
10:41Midazolam, a sedative, and hydromorphone, a narcotic that was supposed to be lethal.
10:46But at 2.05 p.m., to everyone's surprise, Joseph's mouth opened.
10:50Three minutes later, it opens again, burping, snorting, grunting, and convulsing, looking like a fish out of water as he's trying to gasp for air.
10:58This went on for an hour and a half.
11:00A reporter counted 640 times Joseph opened his mouth.
11:05This was while he was sedated.
11:06The first dose of drugs should have killed him, but it took 15 doses.
11:10By 3.49 p.m., Joseph was pronounced dead and the curtains closed.
11:15His execution was deemed botched because of all the snorting, gasping, and convulsing.
11:19The same thing happened to an inmate in Ohio.
11:22When they used the same cocktail, it took him 25 minutes to die.
11:26Joseph's took over two hours.
11:28Arizona halted all executions after Joseph would until 2022.
11:42Joe Nathan James Jr. was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to die for the 1994 killing of 26-year-old mother of two, Faith Hall.
11:52Faith had dated Joe for a brief period of time before rejecting him, and he shot her to death in Birmingham, Alabama.
11:58According to court records, on August 15, 1994, Faith and a companion went out shopping.
12:04Joe broke into the companion's condo, pulled a pistol from his belt, and shot Faith multiple times.
12:09He sat on death row until 2022.
12:12Joe was scheduled to be executed on July 28, 2022.
12:16Even though Faith's children, now adults, told Governor Kay Ivey that they did not want Joe to be executed, rather just give him life without parole.
12:25The governor found no reason to delay the execution.
12:28So on July 28, at 6 p.m., witnesses were waiting to be let in for the execution, but found that they were waiting for three hours.
12:36They were finally let in at 9.05 p.m.
12:39Joe kept his eyes closed as the warrant was being read out, and even when they asked him if he had any last words, he didn't stir at all.
12:47It looked like he was unconscious or sedated, but still breathing.
12:50The three-drug cocktail flowed through the IV.
12:53His breathing became more and more shallow with each passing minute, and by 9.27 p.m., officials pronounced him dead.
12:59It seemed like a pretty standard execution, but why did it take so long?
13:03After an independent autopsy was performed, it became all too clear as to what went wrong.
13:08There were needle marks all over Joe's arms, hands, wrists, and body.
13:12There were jagged cuts on his arms, like they were performing a cut down to expose a vein.
13:17It also looks like he wasn't sedated at all during this process, so the amount of pain from all the poking and cutting, he felt every minute of it.
13:25And his case was not the first in Alabama to be botched in this way.
13:29Doyle Lee Hamm had a similar issue back in 2018, as they kept stabbing him with a needle for over two and a half hours trying to find a suitable vein, but later they commuted his sentence to life without parole.
13:42Then he died of cancer in 2021, which contributed to his botched execution.
13:46Apparently in the state of Alabama, you get to choose which method you want as long as it's constitutional, even a firing squad.
13:53I'm sorry, but if you can screw up an execution that hard with a needle, a gun is going to be a lot worse.
14:00They're probably going to screw up and shoot the person next to them rather than the inmate.
14:03Honestly, lethal injection would be less complicated if it was just a single drug method rather than a cocktail of drugs.
14:10It would make it far easier and train these people better on finding a vein.
14:14Anyways, if you enjoyed this video, don't forget to smash that like button.
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14:21Thank you for hanging out with me in the Dark Mystery Lounge.
14:23This is Phoenix, signing out.
14:25Have a good evening, and stay safe.